Sebastopol, CA--C# (pronounced C sharp), the new programming language from
Microsoft, is the primary language of Microsoft's recent .NET strategy, and
according to Ben Albahari, coauthor of
C# Essentials
(O'Reilly, US $19.95), shows promise as a highly productive, highly powerful
tool. In a succinct but thorough new overview of the language, C# Essentials
introduces C#, and the Microsoft .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR) and Base
Class Libraries (BCL) that support it.

Albahari describes C# as an elegant and practical object-oriented
programming language designed to give an optimal blend of simplicity,
expressiveness, and performance. "C# improves on C++ and Java in many respects.
It's similar to what Java would be if Java people were allowed to forget about
backward compatibility and just work on making the language better," he
says.

The efficient presentation of key concepts serves as a roadmap to the online
documentation included with the Microsoft .NET Framework SDK, while the many
examples included in this new book provide much needed context for would-be C#
programmers.

"C#
Essentials is a small, densely packed book," says Albahari. "If you
want to get up to speed with C# and the most essential parts of .NET, then
C# Essentials will get you there fast. From the outset, the decision was
made to be foundational. We wanted to write a book that would give people a
nucleus of knowledge from which they can explore more specific things, whether
from other books or the Web. It's the core stuff that everyone should
know."

C# Essentials
will help experienced programmers quickly grasp the fundamentals of C#
programming. In addition to overviews of C#, the CLR, and the BCL, C#
Essentials includes coverage of:

C# language elements and syntaxes, in reference format

Major C# data types, with code examples

Basic C# programming tasks

Interoperations with legacy Win32 APIs and COM components, and the use
of C/C++ style pointers within the managed context of the CLR

Common development issues

C# Essentials is written for developers who are already familiar with
an object-oriented language such as C++, Smalltalk, Java or Delphi. This book
will help experienced programmers to get up to speed quickly on the language
best suited for developing web applications and services on the Microsoft .NET
platform.

About O'Reilly

O'Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O'Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying "faint signals" from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.